Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Business in brief

European Voice

9/17/08, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 4:26 PM CET

Olympic approval

The European Commission on 17 September approved a Greek government plan for a partial privatisation of the national airline, Olympic Airlines. Antonio Tajani, the European commissioner for transport, said that the government’s plan to sell some assets, including ground-handling and maintenance services, was in line with EU rules.

Recording giant

The Commission has cleared Japanese electronics giant Sony to become the sole owner of the music recording company Sony BMG, the second-largest player in the global music industry, by buying Bertelsmann AG’s 50% stake in the company. The Commission found that the transaction would not reduce competition in the music recording and retailing sectors.

EIB loans to small firms

The European Investment Bank will provide €15 billion in loans to small- and medium-sized businesses in 2008-09 by frontloading half of a €30bn loan programme, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced on 13 September.

Value-added tax

EU finance ministers failed to narrow their differences about the economic benefits of cutting VAT rates during a two-day meeting in Nice. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she had asked the European Commission to draw up a report on the economic and financial effects of changing VAT rates in time for a meeting of finance ministers on 7 October.

Search-engine probe

The European Commission confirmed on 15 September that it is investigating whether a possible link-up between the advertising businesses of the world’s largest search engines, Google and Yahoo, would affect competition in Europe. A Commission spokesman said there was no deadline for the investigation, which he described as “preliminary” and said had been underway since mid-July.

IT trade accord

The Commission said it wants the International Technology Agreement (ITA), which now covers more than 97% of world trade in IT products, to be updated to take account of products that have entered the market since the agreement was concluded in 1996.